Christopher Webber

Thrace had the potential to field huge numbers of troops, and the Thracian way of warfare had a huge influence on Classical Greek and Hellenistic warfare. Many examples of weapons and armour have been found in Thracian sites.. After Thrace was conquered by the Romans, the Thracians provided a ready source of tough auxiliaries to the Roman army.

This book gives an overview of Thracian history and culture, but focuses predominantly on their warfare and weapons. The latest archaeological finds are used to give the most detailed and accurate picture yet of their arms, armour and costume. He identifies and differentiates the many different tribes, showing that their weapons and tactics varied. The resulting study is of interest to anyone interested in the archaeology and history of the region or in classical warfare as a whole.

CONTENTS
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PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
THE SOURCES

HISTORICAL OUTLINE
The Sixth Century
The 5th Century
The 4th Century
The 3rd and 2nd Centuries BC: The Beginning of the Roman era
The 2nd and 1st centuries: the end of Thracian independence.The End of the Thracians

THRACIAN COSTUME
Classical and Archaic Thracians
Thracian costume of the Hellenistic and Roman eras

ARMOUR
Helmets
Body Armour
North Thracian Armour
Greaves
Shields
New Shields

WEAPONS
Swords & Knives
The Bronze Age and earlier
Knives
Swords
The Iron Age
Long Swords
The Akinakes
The Machaira, or kopis, and other Thracian curved swords
The Sica - sword or rhomphaia?
The Rhomphaia
Spears & Javelins
Axes
Catapaults
Bows and Arrows
Slings and Staff Slings
Clubs
Unconventional weapons – Carts and spiked axles - The defence of the Shipka Pass

THE THRACIAN ARMY
Thracian Armies – size and composition
The Bronze Age
Chariots
Cavalry
Early Thracian cavalry
Heavy Cavalry
Light Cavalry
Light Cavalry Shields
Thracian Horses
Later cavalry developments
Spurs
Lances
Saddles and Saddle Cloths
Cavalry Shields, swords, and the shift back to javelins
Hamippoi
Infantry
Slingers
Archers
Javelinmen
Peltasts
Long Spears
Later Infantry Developments
The Peltast in the Fourth Century
The Iphicratean reforms
Thureophoroi
Thorakitai
The Thracian army in Britain
Cohors I Thracvm Cohors II Thracvm
Cohors VII Thracvm Alae Primae Thracvm

MILITARY ORGANISATION
Thracian Formations
The navy “Thrace, the Final Frontier” – The Military Geography of Thrace

FORTIFICATIONS

BATTLES AND TACTICS
Sitalces’ invasion of Macedonia, 429 BC (Thucydides 2.100)
The 10,000 in Thrace -Seuthes' rebellion, 400 BC (Anabasis 7.3.4 -7.7.57).
The Triballia attack Abdera, 376 BC (Diodorus Siculus XV. 36. 1-5)
Order of battle
Alexander’s invasion, 335 BC (Arrian 1.1.6)
Order of Battle
The Battle of the Lyginus River, 335 BC (Arrian 1.2-1.3)
Order of Battle
The Battle of Raphia 217 BC
The Battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC) – “Peltasts in the Mist
The Battle of Magnesia (190 BC) and its aftermath.
The prelude to the battle,:
The Thracians in the battle
After the battle of Magnesia: The Thracians ambush the Roman army
Order of Battle
The Thracians attack the Galatians on “Mt Olympus” (Livy 37.21-23)
The Battles of Kallinikos (171 BC) and Pydna (168 BC)
The Battle of Kallinikos, 171 BC (Livy 42.57-60.1)
The Battle of Pydna (168 BC) and the Pydna Monument
Thracian tactics

THRACIAN TRIBES
Bessi
The Bisaltai
Bithynia and the Bithynians
- Chronology
- Introduction
- History
- The Bithynian Army
Dii
Getai
The Moesi/Mysians
Odomanti
Odrysai
Paeonians
The Agrianians
The Thyni
The Triballi

GLOSSARY
Abbreviations used in the Notes
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Ancient Sources
-Modern Sources
-Other References
-CD-ROM
-Video
INDEX

This concise but lavishly illustrated study of Thracian history and material culture includes the results of the latest archaeological research, notably some remarkable tomb paintings.

It focuses on Thracian apparel, weapons, military equipment, armour, and warfare

The Thracian tribes lived to the north of Greece and were a constant threat to the civilised world - but they also influenced Greek and Roman culture, as well as Greek warfare.  They were a vigorous people who loved life and wore colourful costumes.

The Thracians were the one of the most popular peoples to be employed as mercenaries or allies by the Hellenistic states, and second only to the Celts/Gauls in the Roman armies. They were held in high regard because of their fighting qualities and their unique styles of fighting, both on foot and while mounted.

The Thracian region was one of the most important recruiting
grounds for the Roman army, with 38 auxilia regiments, alae and
cohortes originating there. Only the Spanish (54), Gallic (42) and
Near Eastern (41) provinces raised more units. They were found
all over the empire and Thracian drafts also filled the ranks of
other regiments (e.g. some Gallic and North African regiments
included Thracians). Many were issued with honorary titles as a
reward for their bravery. The Thracian units had a high proportion
of cavalry - in addition to the twelve alae, sixteen of the
26 infantry regiments were equitatae. This added up to about
21,000 men - 9,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry - at any one time.
Three of the cavalry regiments were horse archers, and there
were two infantry archer regiments.

Many were first raised before Thrace became a province, and
had a tendency to return to their home territory when they were
discharged. This book lists all the regiments and gives all their
histories as well as the 255 identifiable persons who served in the
units and the evidence for their existence. The detail is exhaustive
and quite extraordinary. The last time this was attempted in
the English language was in a nine page journal article in 1969*
and this is a huge leap forward in our understanding of the role
of these units.

The book brings to light the long-existing relationships
between the Romans and the Thracian tribes before the extinction
of Thracian independence in AD 46. It emphasises the role
played by the Thracian kings in voluntarily providing the Romans
with troops and by the Romans in propping up the Thracian
state. It starts by giving a history of each tribe that is known to
have had interactions with the Romans, a useful section that has
a lot of new information. There are many gaps in our knowledge
about this subject and this book pulls together many strings
to fill them. Then there is a chapter on the Roman conquest of
Thrace. The following chapters describe the recruitment and
histories of each ala and cohors Thracum. This in some places
reads like a catalogue of military diplomas, but in others is a lively
history of some little-known actions and peoples. The role of
Thracian regiments in each of the wars of the time is examined.
On reading that section I was interested to see how many wars
occurred in the border provinces during the otherwise peaceful
early years of the empire. There is even a chapter that lists what
non-military activities the regiments were involved in, such as
building bathhouses and quarrying. As the book attempts to
cover the topic from all possible angles, there is some repetition,
but it is not overly noticeable. Most of the time the translation
from Romanian is easily readable, but in places it could definitely
be improved. My major disappointment with such an expensive
book is that the spine of my copy was not glued well enough
and fell off after only a few nights’ reading. It was easy to glue it
back together again, but I hope that other copies do not suffer
this problem. With that proviso I would recommend this book
to anybody interested in the auxiliary regiments of the Roman
army or who is interested in the Thracians. The author has made
an incredible effort to bring together some widely disparate and
obscure sources and the result is most commendable.
* M. G. Jarrett, ‘Thracian Units in the Roman Army’, in: Israel
Exploration Journal 19 (1969), p. 215-224.

"The Thracians were one of the most popular peoples to be employed as mercenaries or allies by the Hellenistic states : they were even used by the Romans. Thracians were employed as light infantry (armed with bows, slings or javelins), as medium infantry, and as light cavalry. Their unique fighting capabilities and the strategic location of their homeland meant that they were involved in all conflicts in the eastern Mediterranean region. The Romans developed a high regard for the Thracians, owing to their ferocity and physical strength. Thrace later became Rome's third most important recruiting ground.

This article details the involvement of Thracian troops in all the known battles of the period (as allies, enemies and mercenaries), their influence, effectiveness, arms, armour, and equipment."

The cavalry formed a large part of the Odrysian army and this article describes their tactics, weapons, apparel, armour, and equipment, based on the latest archaeological discoveries.  It is fully illustrated, including (for the first time) colour reconstructions of the Kazanluk tomb paintings.  The article illustrates the transition from classical to hellenistic equipment, tactics, and appearance.

Describes the Bithynian army in the Hellenistic Period, based on several stele previously unknown.  You can see the stele here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thracian/sets/72157625430580348/
More information about it is at Ruben's page https://www.academia.edu/4131224/The_Bithynian_Army_in_the_Hellenistic_Period

The German army developed many unique vehicles to solve engineering problems in the Second World War.  This article focuses on the armoured vehicles, which ranged from amphibious panzers to bridging vehicles.  Most of the vehicles were developed long before the famous Allied equivalents.